The “Migros Invasion”

When a regional Migros cooperative was established in Geneva shortly after the end of the war, traders resisted it fiercely: they staged protests, demonstrated and even went on strike. This did not, however, stop the first Migros shop from being opened in Geneva in the autumn of 1945.

When the Migros Geneva Cooperative was established in the summer of 1945, activist Henri Gros triumphantly declared, «It was a long and hard struggle, but we finally made it!», referring to the «Migros initiative» that had pushed for the opening of Migros stores in Geneva back in 1944, despite a Federal Council rule forbidding retail companies from expanding. Although the initiative failed to get the votes it needed at that time, when the Federal Council's prohibition was repealed, the battle for Migros entered a second round.

Demonstrations and protests had no effect: in October, the first Migros store opened on Rue du Port – albeit under police protection. A few days later, two thousand retailers closed their businesses for an afternoon and a delegation brought a protest note to City Hall. As delicately noted in the Migrosʾ Wir Brückenbauer magazine, a female customer said in front of a full Migros shop, «In their protests, the grocers talk about Geneva facing a Migros invasion. I’d say that the opposite is true: Migros is facing an invasion of Genevans».